


Call It Appreciation Chocolate

by Yoru_The_Rogue



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Batfamily Feels, Batfamily Shenanigans, Family Fluff, Gen, Not Beta Read, Other, Personal Headcanon 'Verse, Sibling Bonding, The DC Yoru-Verse, i canon blend like there's no tomorrow, scene drabble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-29 04:40:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17801219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yoru_The_Rogue/pseuds/Yoru_The_Rogue
Summary: Valentine's Day is already over, but with prices being cut on holiday chocolate, that doesn't mean you still can't receive a gift, does it?  Hey, it isn't all about romance; sometimes you have to show love to your family too...even if it is a little like pulling teeth for some people.[Short scene, hastily written.]





	Call It Appreciation Chocolate

**Author's Note:**

> Written hastily for today, February 15th, based off of an odd dream I had involving Damian attempting to show a little kindness to his extended found family. I almost considered writing a full oneshot based on the idea, but decided against doing that and instead figured I would focus on the interaction I most wanted to write. I've only written Damian once before, years ago in a clumsy first attempt to find his character voice, and this is my first time writing Steph, so please bear with me on that.

A tug at the arm of the chair finally alerted Stephanie to someone’s presence, and she jerked upright, pulling out her earbuds and spinning around to see who was trying to catch her attention.  Her eyes widened upon seeing Damian looking somewhere between mildly annoyed, somewhat relieved and abruptly self-conscious.

 

“Tt, about time you acknowledged me,” he snorted.  “Honestly Brown, I’ve only been trying to get your attention for the past twenty-two seconds.  I wasn’t aware those things made you blind, too.”

 

She had to train herself not to scowl too deeply in annoyance.  It had been three years since Damian had shown up to live at Wayne Manor, and while he had improved as a person over the past three years significantly, he was still a trying personality.  Typically he made little to no effort to interact with Steph normally, and he could be a downright headache when they were forced to work together for one reason or other. “Snotty” was the descriptor she used to his face, but she had a suspicion he knew the more colorful manner in which she usually referred to the youngest Robin.  So try as she might to avoid a scowl, she couldn’t quite avoid wearing an unamused, flat expression.

 

“Sorry, geez,” she huffed in reply, reaching down to hit pause on her mp3 player.  “I was—”

 

“‘In the zone’, or whatever you call it?” Damian cut her off, looking equally unamused.  “Well…this is more important.”

 

“Sure,” Steph said grudgingly.  “Something I can help you with?”

 

At this, Damian faltered, losing steam for whatever it was he was trying to bring up, and for a moment he simply fidgeted in a way she was sure she hadn’t seen from him before.  It was a stark reminder that no matter how accomplished he was as Robin or as a child raised for ten years by assassins, Damian was still young and could still be unsure of things.

 

_ No way, _ she thought, mentally shaking herself.  _  Not this crust nugget; he doesn’t blink or get startled by a freakin’ _ slasher  _ film. _  After a second, she noticed he was carrying an envelope and small package in his left hand and when she glanced back to meet his eyes, he deliberately shifted his gaze to the ground, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.   _ Is that what’s got him worked up?  Did he get a valentine yesterday or something?  Aw, crap. Don’t tell me he has no clue what to do with it and he’s trying to ask  _ me  _ for help.  Wait, what if it’s the opposite problem?   _ Don’t  _ freaking tell me that he forgot to get a girl chocolate yesterday and he’s trying ask me for advice on  _ that  _ either, I don’t know if I could be sincere. _

 

“Well, yes,” he admitted.  “Yesterday was Valentine’s Day—”

 

“Imagine that.”

 

“Which means today all chocolate and other candy were marked down in price,” he went on as though she hadn’t spoken.  “I asked Alfred to—ugh, here.” As if he couldn’t bring himself to fully form the thought, he thrust the envelope and box at her, cheeks flushing as he watched her.  Startled, Steph leaned back in the chair a moment before taking the envelope and box, and was surprised to see the envelope addressed to her.

 

    “Uhh, do I want to know what this is, Damian?” she asked, holding it up and giving him a quizzical look.  It was a card, judging by the weight and shape, though it couldn’t have been a Valentine’s Day card; the envelope was just a simple design and a soft cream color.

 

    “Tt.  Just open it, Brown,” he groaned, exasperated.  She frowned back but set the box on her lap and ripped open the envelope, pulling the card out and glancing at the front.

 

_     I’m Sorry. _

 

    She raised an eyebrow and examined the front of the card a moment longer before Damian cleared his throat loudly and crossed his arms to make a point.  Tossing him another quick look, she flipped open the card to read the inside. Unsurprisingly, the pre-printed text of “Condolences for your loss” was crossed out in what could only be black permanent marker, and underneath was a hand-written message in very precise, compact print.  At first she only skimmed what he had written, but as she looked over the words a second and third time, the impact of what Damian had penned down started to sink in. Was this sincere?

  
“You think I’m a valuable addition to this family?  Dami, did you...did you really write all of this?” she asked, looking up at him again.  Steadily his face flushed darker and darker, and her jaw dropped. “Wait, you actually mean it?”

 

“Look, you’re annoying and loud and you make stupid jokes and you’re nowhere near even Drake’s skill level, let alone mine or Father’s,” he said, his voice mild and without tones of disdain for once.  “But...everyone has value. Father and Oracle wouldn’t have helped you become Batgirl, nobody would have, if you weren’t valuable and important to the mission. I know we haven’t always gotten along, Brown, but...I was doing a lot of thinking yesterday, and I wanted you to know that.  I apologize if anything I said or did before made you feel unwanted or devalued.”  He shifted his weight to one foot and uncrossed his arms, looking at the floor as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “I appreciate you.”

 

Stunned, she didn’t even glance at the chocolate as she set it aside with the card and swooped out of the computer chair to scoop Damian into a hug in one fluid motion.  He stiffened in shock, but the fact he didn’t immediately protest or shove her away was a huge sign of progress.

 

“Thanks, kiddo!” Steph said, letting a bit of a squeal enter her voice as she squeezed him in the hug.  “Seriously Damian, that means a lot to me. I appreciate you too, even if you  _ can  _ be a little crud muffin sometimes.  Thank you.”

 

He reached up with one arm and patted her on the back of her shoulder as though still uncomfortable with the idea of giving her any level of affection, before he finally wriggled free of the hug with a muttered “yeah, yeah, let go of me”, face completely red and his customary scowl back in place.

 

“Don’t think I only gave you chocolate though,” he added, pointing his index finger in a serious manner.  “Everyone got some.”

 

This time she had to hold back a smile.  “Right right, I’m not that special, huh?” she teased, arching her brow again.

 

“I never said anything about special,” Damian huffed, before spinning on his heel as though to walk away.  “But all of you are valuable and important.”

 

Unable to stop herself, a grin broke out on her face as she settled back into the chair and grabbed for the box of chocolates.  She heard Jason and Tim say often enough they weren’t sure if any amount of time spent here—in the family, in the nucleus of people who surrounded Damian with support and love—would do any good or have a lasting, positive impact.  But she had a feeling that plenty of good had been done for him and was still being done, even if he showed it in his own way.

 

_     This is progress, one-hundred percent.  And it’s the best kind. _


End file.
